# Long term effects of anorexia and bulimia.



## ldivastar7 (Aug 28, 2006)

I am a recovering anorexic. I wanted to post something here about long term effects since there has been a lot of celebrities recently portrayed in the media and I want to let people know that the weight loss is just one aspect of the disease.

I first became anorexic at about age 14 and fought with it until I was about 21. I still battle w/ it every day. Even though I am over weight now it is still a struggle I think I will always battle with the rest of my life.

When it started I was 210 pounds. My dad was sick w/ leukemia and my weight loss became a way for me to control some thing in my life were everything else I could not. I lost at first 75 pounds in 3 months. At my lowest I weighed 110. For my frame I was very skinny, nothing but skin on bone. After my dad passed away and I married my husband I regained my weight slowly w/ the help of my husband. I have had many long term effects to being anorexic.

*I had major hair loss starting at 16 and still have not regained all my hair.

*I can never have children due to the extreme point of my illness was in puberty and it has prevented me from producing eggs and having periods. (I have tried fertility but no luck and I have been married 10 years.)

*I am now over weight Dr's tell me that the weight gain is due to the years of starvation and your body goes into a recovery mode and stores what ever it can get. I still only eat once a day but I am now 218 and have a hard time losing and doing it safely because I still have trouble eating due to the damage internally (stomach and esophagus)

* iron and potassium deficiency that has caused me to constantly be in the emergency room. That last time was the most serious. They think I had a mild heart attack.

*ulcer's and gastric reflux from vomiting when I did eat and couldn't hold it down.

* tooth erosion from the vomiting and loss of calcium

*Calcium deficiency that has made my bones very brittle I broke my leg 2 years ago and had to have major sugary thank God they saved my leg.

* hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

* short term memory loss

I am not writing this to have people feel sorry for me. I am a stronger woman now to have had over come this even though I battle to keep from returning to those habits. I just want to bring awayness to those who have or are struggling from anorexia or bulimia. It isn't just the weightless that is an issue it is the long term and in some cases the time your in your worst point that can cause irreversible damage. Not to mention your life. I have know of several people that have died from abusing their bodies in this way. The most common death related is heart failure.

Does anyone know of any other long term effects that I have not mentioned?


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## vanilla_sky (Aug 28, 2006)

thank you for this post, I think it is very informative and maybe will warn girls out there. I think you covered pretty much all the long term effects. I had an anorexic episode when I was 18 for about a year and a half, thankflully short enough so I was able to recover completely.


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## makeupfreak72 (Aug 28, 2006)

i had a nervous breakdown when i was 24 i weighed 150 lbs and went down to 118 lbs in 2 weeks, YES 2 weeks!! i couldnt eat i thought i was going to die al i drank was water, i lost about 30 to 40% of my hair, which i have always worn long to my waist, i didnt get me period for 3 months, i developed migraines with aura (seeing spots, bright lights, blind spots loosing my vision sometimes) and i ended up having the worst panic attacks. poblems i was having at the time is what triggered it all, and being afraid of gaining all the weight back i have always been on a diet in fact for years my diet consisted of diet soda for breakfast, a beer for lunch and coffee for dinner, the results? i have gastritis that when flares up i feel like im having a heart attack, and a gallstone operation. i managed to stay thin by staying 130 lbs. im 5'5" until i had my 2 other sons the weight has just not come off no matter what, and i find myself still not eating for a couple of days close to nothing, drinking lots of coffee instead of eating just to kill my hunger and drinking lots of diet soda, and when i cant stand it any longer and i eat something i feel depressed, disgusting and cant vent my frustrations so i spend money or shop!!! so i made this a little too long sorry, i guess i had to talk about it.


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## Aquilah (Aug 29, 2006)

Thanks for posting and sharing! Very informative!


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## Jennifer (Aug 29, 2006)

thanks for posting. i'm sorry you had to go through that.

diana, i'm sorry


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## makeupfreak72 (Aug 30, 2006)

Originally Posted by *Jennifer* /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for posting. i'm sorry you had to go through that.
diana, i'm sorry





thank you jennifer, this is actually the first time i have spoken about it to anybody, thank you.


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## emily_3383 (Aug 30, 2006)

wow thanks for sharing!


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## Thais (Aug 30, 2006)

I'm a former bulimic myself, although I didn't go to extremes. Excessive exercise was my way of purging. I weighted as little as 117 pounds for my 5'7'' (which doesnt sound to bad, but I have huge bones, nowadays just my lean body mass, muscle/bone/water, weights about 135 pounds). After I put the weight back on, people came to me to tell me they thought I had cancer before... Scary!


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## jessiee (Aug 30, 2006)

heh ...

I'm a former anorexic/bulimic too... lowest i went was 84 pounds and they had to stick tubes in my nose and put some liquid in there to make me eat. I was hospitalised for a year.. i think im over it now.. I just still have these over eating episodes but I DO NOT make myself vomit. probably all the starving i went through that makes me wanna eat so much.... i donno.

I'm VERY scared to not being able to have babies......



I'm thinking of passing a fertility test cuz this is starting to worry me a bit(I,m 21, i dont want kids now but in the future I do)

so yea.. all that to tell u I know what u went through and that im sorry u had to go through this. I do not wish this to anyone.


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## KimC2005 (Aug 30, 2006)

Thanks for sharing this!


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## ldivastar7 (Aug 30, 2006)

Jessica: My doctor told me that not being able to have children was due to me being so young (14)when I started the starvation diets. I started my periods at 17 which was pretty late. I still have only have had about 10 ever. If you are having hormonal issues it is good to be checked even if its not related. Good luck and I am glad your recovering well.

It is sort of like when women who are very athletic like gymnastics stop having periods. Some have problems w/ fertilization and some don't.


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## jdepp_84 (Aug 30, 2006)

I really appreciate you posting that. Im going through a tough time trying to loose weight. I gained about 30 to 35 pounds in a couple of months. Thanks to this post i'll definitly be more focused on trying to loose it in a healthy way.


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## Harlot (Aug 30, 2006)

Wow...is that why I have episodes where I lose my vision for a few moments? I almost lost my conciousness. Im a bit bulimic but nothing extreme. Ive starved myself alot though and usually, compare to how a normal person eats, I still do. Hell I havent even had lunch yet. But I dont know how much a regular person eats so If I eat a meal I feel like Im over-eating.Ive never told anyone this but Im a scared that I cant have kids. After my first period at 13 in late August, by January I went extreme on dieting and I guess about 3 or 5 months I lost about 50 pounds. And I have yet to get my period and Im about to turn 16....Thanks for posting this Loretta, it was really imformative.


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## ShelbyLynn (Aug 31, 2006)

Thanks for sharing!


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## Little_Lisa (Aug 31, 2006)

Thanks for the informative post and thanks for sharing your stories.


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## jessiee (Aug 31, 2006)

well.. I started being anorexic at like 15... but I had my periods at like 13... stopped having them for about 8-9 months but I have them normally again. Do you think I'm safe? I'm sooo scared


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## rejectstar (Aug 31, 2006)

Thanks so much for bringing this up and providing a snapshot of what reality with an eating disorder is like. I think a lot of people don't understand how severe the longterm effects of starving and purging can be on your body. I've had eating issues for about 3 years now. I was became bulimic at 15, and coupled with my clinical depression and social anxiety, it made life a living hell for me.

I basically refused myself food because I thought I was the fattest, ugliest, most useless creature on the planet. And when I did eat, I'd make myself throw it up. The binges happened whenever I got upset... I'd just stuff my face with food and it would "numb" the emotional pain, I guess you could say. Then it'd all come right back up. The ironic thing was, I never really got thin. All I got was my hair falling out constantly, my skin looking like a dead corpse, and absolutely no energy to do anything. It upset my friends and family, and now that I look back on it, I feel so guilty for putting them through all that pain. The thing that motivated me to get better was realizing that I wasn't just hurting myself with this eating disorder, I was hurting everyone that loved me, too





I had to go to two different therapists over the course of 3 years, and I was able to kick the bulimia when I was put on Wellbutrin by my current psychiatrist. I still have some pretty screwed up eating habits, but I'm slowly learning to treat my body right. It's hard to learn how to eat "normally" again after so many years of abusing food. I'm very very lucky not to have any really serious effects from it... that I know of, anyway. My teeth are really sensitive, because of all the stomach acid from purging... but other than that, I'm thankful to be done with it all! I feel for all of you who have mentioned your struggles with food and body image... I wish we could all just realize how beautiful we are.


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## ldivastar7 (Sep 1, 2006)

Originally Posted by *jessiee* /img/forum/go_quote.gif well.. I started being anorexic at like 15... but I had my periods at like 13... stopped having them for about 8-9 months but I have them normally again. Do you think I'm safe? I'm sooo scared



I would think since you are having them normal now you are doing well. It wouldn't hurt to ask your Dr. your next visit. 
My experience with infertility was a rare and extreme occurrence. Most of my long term effects were due to being anorexic so young &amp; for so long.

*Thank you to all have shaired your experiances.


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## xkatiex (Sep 1, 2006)

I've been friends with two girls who are anorexic, its awful



thanks for makeing this thread its been very good to read



x


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## charish (Sep 8, 2006)

thanks for sharing ladies, i've been fighting it since i was 13.well i started at 13 and it was on and off for yrs. i still have to fight it and i'm almost 27, sometimes when i eat or look at myself i feel like vomiting, i know that sounds gross but i don't do it, but i relly do feel sick to my stomach.


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## beata (Sep 8, 2006)

Thanks for the thread.

I have been there myself. I won't say how much i was at my lowest weight. I am a recovering anorexic now and am also overweight, I guess because my body has gone into starvation mode too.


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## Tina050715 (Dec 8, 2007)

Originally Posted by *ldivastar7* /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am a recovering anorexic. I wanted to post something here about long term effects since there has been a lot of celebrities recently portrayed in the media and I want to let people know that the weight loss is just one aspect of the disease.I first became anorexic at about age 14 and fought with it until I was about 21. I still battle w/ it every day. Even though I am over weight now it is still a struggle I think I will always battle with the rest of my life.

When it started I was 210 pounds. My dad was sick w/ leukemia and my weight loss became a way for me to control some thing in my life were everything else I could not. I lost at first 75 pounds in 3 months. At my lowest I weighed 110. For my frame I was very skinny, nothing but skin on bone. After my dad passed away and I married my husband I regained my weight slowly w/ the help of my husband. I have had many long term effects to being anorexic.

*I had major hair loss starting at 16 and still have not regained all my hair.

*I can never have children due to the extreme point of my illness was in puberty and it has prevented me from producing eggs and having periods. (I have tried fertility but no luck and I have been married 10 years.)

*I am now over weight Dr's tell me that the weight gain is due to the years of starvation and your body goes into a recovery mode and stores what ever it can get. I still only eat once a day but I am now 218 and have a hard time losing and doing it safely because I still have trouble eating due to the damage internally (stomach and esophagus)

* iron and potassium deficiency that has caused me to constantly be in the emergency room. That last time was the most serious. They think I had a mild heart attack.

*ulcer's and gastric reflux from vomiting when I did eat and couldn't hold it down.

* tooth erosion from the vomiting and loss of calcium

*Calcium deficiency that has made my bones very brittle I broke my leg 2 years ago and had to have major sugary thank God they saved my leg.

* hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

* short term memory loss

I am not writing this to have people feel sorry for me. I am a stronger woman now to have had over come this even though I battle to keep from returning to those habits. I just want to bring awayness to those who have or are struggling from anorexia or bulimia. It isn't just the weightless that is an issue it is the long term and in some cases the time your in your worst point that can cause irreversible damage. Not to mention your life. I have know of several people that have died from abusing their bodies in this way. The most common death related is heart failure.

Does anyone know of any other long term effects that I have not mentioned?

Hey, I'm new on this site and I found it because I was looking up the long term effects of anorexia. I was 13 when I became anorexic and other than collapsing on a track during a meet and playing volleyball all of the time, I don't remember much about it. I don't really know how long I was anorexic. I went to a therapist yesterday actually for the first time and i told him that I was anorexic when I was young. I've been having some emotional issues, just turning something small into something big and getting upset all of the time for no reason really. He said that memory loss long term and short term is an effect of anorexia. He said it was because you basically starve your brain as well as your body and it's not given what it needs to function properly. He also diagnosed me with depression, anxiety, and he told me that I have a neurological disorder, along with self image loss. I never got treatment for anorexia, besides my mom making me eat. So I never got any psychological treatment and everything that he diagnosed me with was a result of being sick. I didn't know any of that before I went to a therapist. I suggest all of you to see a professional because you may have a problem still that you know nothing about and that you can get treated for. Anyways, I jsut wanted to share that with you. Thanks for posting, a lot of girls at that age don't hear about any of this, I mean I sure didn't. I know how horrible it feels to have had this disease and I'm sorry that any of us had to go through it alone.

what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger.


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## Cassandra nurse (Dec 20, 2013)

I just want to let anyone still struggling know that there is hope for you. I became anorexic at 14 years old and struggled on and off until I was about 23. (I'm 35 now).  I know the hell you guys have been through and I also have a solution that really helped me to recover. I prayed like crazy and asked God to show me where the ROOT of the problem came from. I found that it was rooted in my childhood and feeling neglected (unloved). I also found that it has a lot to do with a predisposition (family history) and personality type. (Strong willed/perfectionist.I had to do the foot work to get help. I had to want it.  I think I hit rock bottom around the age of 21. Like many of you, I ended up gaining a lot of weight when I was recovering due to the damage of my metabolism for so many years( starvation mode) ... I also found that I was gaining the weight on purpose due to a repression of being molested at a young age. So where is the light at the end of the tunnel? I found it in prayer and self discovery. Soul searching. I also found that having a deep rooted desire for something in life.. finding out your calling does wonders. I always wanted to be a mother and I knew that the fact that I was not getting my period at all (longest was 9 months) I had to change for my future kids. When I got pregnant the first time . I knew it was a blessing and I had to be healthy for my son. but the pressure I felt to lose the baby weight 30 lb got to me and I relapsed. I was still struggling when I got pregnant with my second child... long story short, she was born deaf and I still don't know the exact cause. I FINALLY had a wake up call when I realized that I could die from this and what would happen to my kids??  (I watched an episode of HOUSE where this woman ended up needing a heart transplant for bulimia at 30!!)  I decided I had to take responsibility for my self and I continued to seek out professional therapy whenever I could. After baby number three (she is now 8) I realized that God had blessed me with these little lives and I wasn't even suppose to be able to have them with all the damage I did. I know I'm very blessed and I don't ever want to take them for granted. God has used them to help me get free.... they are my calling. Whatever your calling is ... follow it with all your heart and God will help you break free..  It's really about learning about yourself and learning to love yourself and seeing your worth and value as a human being. Once you discover that, it will help so much!!! I have not had any issues in years!  God is faithful and He has a plan for your lives. Just let Him show you.Let your heart to open to HIm and Jesus will not disappoint you like others in the this life. I pray you all find peace with yourselves and realized how priceless you are!!!!!

 With love and understanding,

Cassandra


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